[apana]

Jeremy Lin is out and now the NBA is so drama free. The players and media aren't craving for attention, it's wonderful.

[SoulPlaya]

I'm betting this whole thing was a work from all sides just to garner more attention. We all fell for it!

[Heel]

Here's a link to the segment. Turned into a giant shitstorm.

Hahahaha I love how SAS of all people arrives as the mediator and voice of reason.

Sports Entertainment.

[Derrick01]

I can't believe they dedicated today to addressing this, pretty lame honestly.

Yeah they always have to dedicate a segment whenever someone calls Skip out and he has to fire back and stroke his ego, and today because someone went a little further they had to dedicate 80% of the fucking show to clearing the air and ego stroking. It was beyond pathetic.

[pistolpete2940]

I admit to enjoying this http://www.sportsgrid.com/video/happ...e-upton-video/ on their website much more.

So we're just gonna act like this wasn't posted?

My god...

[nVidiot_Whore]

So we're just gonna act like this wasn't posted? My god...

You know there is porn on the internet right?

Haha.. j/k.. but seriously.. the hyperbole surrounding Kate Upton is silly.

[cdyhybrid]

So we're just gonna act like this wasn't posted? My god...

Old news, Skip.

[SolidSnakex]

Yeah they always have to dedicate a segment whenever someone calls Skip out and he has to fire back and stroke his ego, and today because someone went a little further they had to dedicate 80% of the fucking show to clearing the air and ego stroking. It was beyond pathetic.

Look on the bright side, at least they went a day without finding a way to squeeze a Tebow topic into the show.

[joedan]

Here's a link to the segment. Turned into a giant shitstorm.

Where's the second part of the discussion? Is there a link?

[xbhaskarx]

Anyone else notice that Skip had to have Steven piece of shit Smith do all this yelling and screaming for him? because every time Jalen destroyed Skip when he tried to say something SAS strategy that never fails, yell louder and over your opponent

Exactly, and then at the 21st minute Smith has the nerve to say that he has his job because he's more articulate and eloquent than the alternatives.
This is ESPN, they employ Bayless, Smith, Jim Rome, Bill Plaschke, Woody Paige, Rick Reilly, etc. etc. articulate and eloquent don't enter into it.

[JasonUresti]

Skip should go back to making up baseless rumors concerning the sexual orientation of pro athletes. It's how he made his name.

[beanoboy7]

Blacksportsonline.com informed Jalen via Twitter of Skips highschool career. Good blog. Peep it out

Here's a screen cap of the tweets:
http://blacksportsonline.com/home/20...t-entertainer/

[Izick]

Serves him right for verbally fellating that bum tebow for the past year and shitting up ESPN with that nonsense.

Does the guy really look athletic, at all? Did anyone ever believe he was any good at a sport?

[beanoboy7]

Does the guy really look athletic, at all? Did anyone ever believe he was any good at a sport?

Skip is a workout fiend. Doesn't even look 60! He's in great shape

[InertiaXr]

Does the guy really look athletic, at all? Did anyone ever believe he was any good at a sport?

So you've concluded from seeing basically only his face (he wears a suit or sport coat or something presumably every day) on TV as a 60 year old how athletic he was when he was 16-18?

[Shadow780]

Listen to the 1st take podcast if you want the whole segment, 3/4 of the show is basically about this.

[Hobbestetrician]

this x100 I get that much of both of their personalities revolve around the "good cop bad cop" dynamic of sports radio/opinion, where one guy makes a ridiculous statement and the other guy takes the exact opposite position, thus generating debate. But it gets tiring when someone turns that into serious, condescending snark like Skip and SAS do. Especially Skip.

And then Skip calls out an athlete for whatever reason and says "Well, if they want to defend themselves, they can come on my show and, therefore, validate my trolling and get me better ratings. If they don't come on the show I will continue to call them out and indirectly call them cowards for not coming on the show. Except you, Tebow, you can do no wrong."

Also, the whole show needs to stop constantly patting itself on the back for tackling the 'tough topics'.

[TheKaeptain]

Translation "my credibility is shot and i am going to be let go soon. damn"

Dude Skip wrote a book calling Troy Aikman gay. He has no cred.

[scoobs]

LMAO that guys never getting back on first take ever again. Hilarious

[Baby Milo]

Skip is a workout fiend. Doesn't even look 60! He's in great shape

yeah i was shocked when i realized how old he was when his high school stuff came out

[CartridgeBlower]

Kinda think Jalen Rose comes out looking bad in this. Very myopic.

Obviously Skip is a clown, but get over it? He's not the one making millions, the athletes are. Hard to feel sorry for them. You're in the public eye, you get criticized. Want to fix this problem? Don't take what Skip says so seriously. It's not like he's affecting GM decisions.

Their paycheck isn't on the line based on what Skip does or doesn't say, no matter how much Jalen tries to act like it is.

Steven A. actually made sense when he first came on. Said some good things, especially when discussing the hypocrisy of retired athletes jumping straight into being commentators the first chance they get.

[Duki]

jalen has a pretty good history of shitting on skip on this show tbqh

skip is a moron and he got called on his own shit

no sympathy

jalen shouldnt have backpedaled one bit

[Hobbestetrician]

Jay Crawford is such a parrot.

Skip: Back me up, Jay!
Jay: Skip's right, Jalen.

[JasonUresti]

I find it hilarious that a man who is paid to be a professional troll has people actually feeling sorry for him and jumping to his defense when he gets stomped on verbally.

Don't make your money playing a dirty game, and then cry when you get some mud in your face. Skip needed a Jim Rome moment somewhere along the line, but doesn't even have the heart that Rome's weaselly souled self had. Rome kept talking garbage right up to the point Jim Everett turned over the table. Jalen threw a few verbal jabs and Skippy was close to tears, and suddenly didn't have much to say.

[JokerOfSpades]

You know there is porn on the internet right? Haha.. j/k.. but seriously.. the hyperbole surrounding Kate Upton is silly.

We don't do that here, son.

[Ninja Scooter]

Kinda think Jalen Rose comes out looking bad in this. Very myopic. Obviously Skip is a clown, but get over it? He's not the one making millions, the athletes are. Hard to feel sorry for them. You're in the public eye, you get criticized. Want to fix this problem? Don't take what Skip says so seriously. It's not like he's affecting GM decisions. Their paycheck isn't on the line based on what Skip does or doesn't say, no matter how much Jalen tries to act like it is. Steven A. actually made sense when he first came on. Said some good things, especially when discussing the hypocrisy of retired athletes jumping straight into being commentators the first chance they get.

SAS and Skip are just as much in the public eye, yet they don't take criticism very well. I think that was Jalen's point. These guys get personal all the time, Skip openly takes low blows at players, and personal pot shots yet when Jalen brings up some stuff it requires a "very special edition of First Take" to clear the air?

[RobotChant]

Not making millions or not disrespecting individuals to their face aren't virtues. Skip is in the business of taking shots at others. He should have thicker skin and so should his fans.

Watching Skip through the years and reading the tweets in question, I wouldn't be surprised if his fantasies were creeping into reality.

The reason this is even a story is because it fucks with Skip's credibility like nothing else. He injected his own experiences into this and it turns out those were false, a fantasy. He got exposed badly and in some ways so did ESPN. He's a commentator and there's no requirement that he be a sports stud. However no one wants to give a platform to someone who makes stuff up either.

[Kitschkraft]

Just saw the "debate" (Or, one man shouting match) they had over this.

Jalen looked kind of meek, but only because Stephen A is such a blusterous idiot, my god is he fucking annoying, and everything he said could have been easily debated, but he is so damn rude and loud that you can't really get a word in. He reminded me of Bill O'Reilly in that regard.

Jalen was trying to get to some points across, but he either kept being interrupted, or he was so fluttered by the sheer amount of hot air being directed towards him.

Skip Bayless, who is a bigger idiot than even SAS, gets to somehow sit on the sideline of this debate and play almost to the medium. Even though it was his bullshit lies and exaggerations that started this.

The bottom line is that these ESPN guys focus too much on the personality of athletes. They focus too much on their lifestyles. They focus too much on trying to paint some sort of picture of who they are off the court or in their persona l lives. They spend too much time focusing on the fucking "storylines". It's not even just about when they are disrespectful as Jalen was focusing on, it's the way they seem to "report" on this shit like its soap operas, instead of just guys playing a game.

[NomarTyme]

hahahahaha...hahahaha

[Ripclawe]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

[Mikasangelos]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

:facepalm:

SKIP STFU

[TripOpt55]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

That was fun to watch.

[Forkball]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

"You have the presumption that people care what you say. They don't."



[edit] Cuban's analysis about how the Mavs shut down Lebron was more insightful than anything I've seen on ESPN for years.

[gatisimo]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

Thank you for posting this. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[sangreal]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

That was awesome. I wish we actually got that kind of analysis on ESPN regularly

[CountAntonius]

LOL @ "you didn't have to defend him." Wow this guys just can't admit he is wrong.

[ConfusingJazz]

LOL @ "you didn't have to defend to defend him." Wow this guys just can't admit he is wrong.

I can't believe he said this.

[Forkball]

LOL @ "you didn't have to defend to defend him." Wow this guys just can't admit he is wrong.

Bayless' argument relies on the idea that Lebron's shortcomings were all mental while Cuban actually backs up what he says with strategy.

Cuban: Why didn't the Thunder succeed against LeBron?
Bayles: Slash... Hunger Games... FREIGHT TRAIN!

[Ducarmel]

Just more proof Skip don't know what he is talking about, he admitted long ago he goes by what he see's/feel's and don't care about the x's and o's of the game.

They need to go back to the old format when they had beat writers and former athletes/coaches come on and slay Skip in every argument. SAS does an o.k. job but he can be just as bad and inflammatory as Skip

[zomaha]

That was awesome. I wish we actually got that kind of analysis on ESPN regularly

Me, too, but it wouldn't bring in the ratings that ESPN has. So they'll be content with catering to the casual fans.

[SouthernDragon]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

destroyed

Goddamn, this Mark Cuban fellow is knowledgable. He's going with a laser-like focus with SPECIFICS.

[ConfusingJazz]

That was awesome. I wish we actually got that kind of analysis on ESPN regularly

Instead we have what amounts to hype men and fake laughter.

Actually, Jeff van Gundy is great on color commentary.

[the_log_ride]

God damn, that was harsh... Good shit, Jalen

[vas_a_morir]

Me, too, but it wouldn't bring in the ratings that ESPN has. So they'll be content with catering to the casual fans.

Yeah... it's about creating a compelling narrative. Kinda like theatrical wrestling. Amazing athleticism, I'm sure, but what makes people tune in are the stories and human drama.

I'm taking a break from sports after these finals. I have been overwhelmed with sports lately and it makes you a wreck if you care about the teams and players like I do. It's not normal to watch 4 hours of baseball a day.

That's what I like about American Football... you got a game for 3 hours on Sunday, and then you move on with your life until next lazy Sunday.

[Seguin]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

HOLY SHIT at 5:55 Cuban obliterates him.

Also Skip claiming that Lebron is obsessed about what Skip says about him...yea right.

[TheOMan]

Just watched the Cuban/Skip Bayless video...Mark Cuban should have Skip's job. Skip is a joke.

[Einbroch]

He avoids every question. Cuban making it rain with the facts.

[3N16MA]

mark Cuban destroys skip bayless for 6+ minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv2jq...e_gdata_player

Bayless looking over at Smith for a little help. Love it.

[LosDaddie]

That's really embarrassing. :lol

[entrement]

It's pretty obvious that Skip wants these confrontations. Better ratings for him and his show.